For The Race: Protection
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When Sam is turned into a femme for his/her own good, she is almost immediately kidnapped by the Decepticons. When she eventually finds out why, it is not for the reasons that she expected.
1. Chapter 1

For The Race: Protection.

Summary: When Sam is turned into a femme for his/her own good, she is almost immediately kidnapped by the Decepticons. When she eventually finds out why, it is not for the reasons that she expected.

Continuity: Michael Bay Movieverse.

Disclaimer: Never has been and never will be mine. Transformers and all canon characters belong to Hasbro/Paramount, and I gain no financial or material benefit from writing these stories.

A/N: I amaze myself with the variety of different scenarios I can get out of the "For The Race" concept, and this one took me completely by surprise.

For The Race: Protection.

Chapter One.

Ratchet, Bumblebee, Ron, and Judy all stood around Sam's bed, Ratchet as his physician, and the other three as family and friend. So far, Sam was still more awake and lucid than asleep or feverish, but Ratchet knew that was likely to change, and more so as time went by. What Ratchet found the most difficult about the situation was his inability to control it.

He had already been through the 'What if?s' and 'if only's, - what if he'd scanned Sam earlier? If only he'd checked Sam had no physical ill effects that could have been caused in the Mission City battle, and re-checked him regularly - and had even said as much to Sam's distraught parents. However, it was them who had pointed out that such sentiments would not bring Sam back, and that with hindsight, yes, he could have done more, but hindsight was called that for a reason. Nobody could go back in time and change anything, so they would have to deal with it as best they could, and nobody was to blame. Ratchet found it strange that it was Ron and Judy, who had the most to lose, were the ones comforting him and telling him that he should do what could now for Sam, which was to keep Sam as heathy and pain-free as possible.

He reflected that after the battle, Sam had seemed somewhat traumatised mentally, which was only to be expected. Optimus had volunteered to help counsel the teen, and had, in fact, been doing a remarkably effective job. When Sam had called off one appointment in the second week, citing a cold or maybe 'flu, nobody thought anything of it.

It had been Bumblebee who, three weeks after Mission City, had noticed that Sam was looking pale, and noticed blotchy purple bruising on his arms, and he had immediately, over the teen's protests that it was 'probably nothing much' brought him to see Ratchet. Ratchet recalled the day, for he wished Bumblebee had found reason to bring him in much earlier.

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"What is it, Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked, as he walked into the medical bay with his young charge clasped in his hands.

"It's Sam, he doesn't look well and he has severe-looking bruising on his arms, I was wondering if you could make sure it's nothing serious," Bumblebee said.

"Aw, c'mon, Bee, I probably bashed myself up when I slipped a few days ago," Sam said. "We may be fragile, but we heal up okay from minor scrapes, in a couple of weeks there probably won't even be any sign they were there."

"Well, Sam, better to check, don't you think?" Ratchet asked, hiding his concern because Sam, to his eyes, didn't look as healthy and alert as usual. "How long have you had them?" He ran a scan as he talked to the human.

"Not sure, maybe a few days, or a week, remember them just being itchy and dry, but then they began to scab up," Sam said. As the results of his scans began returning, Ratchet gave a small jerk, his attention firmly on his scans.

His scans were reporting an increased heart, breathing, and perspiration rate, but that could have been the so called 'white coat syndrome' where humans were nervous in front of their doctor, which could occasionally skew results. This was not the area of concern, however, and Ratchet now thought that Sam looked healthier than he had any right to.

Sam's systems were chaotic. The biochemical readings Ratchet was receiving were those of someone who's biochemistry was balanced on a fine edge, but teetering towards greater instability? His blood system was showing signs Ratchet accessed the Internet to look up, and he felt his Spark flicker as he realised Sam's results were consistent with the early signs of aplastic anaemia, the 'bruises' were a form of internal haemorrhaging, and as for his digestive system, from top to bottom, the lining seemed to be breaking down inside.

"Sam, have you noticed any bleeding of the gums? Or blood from the rectum, or brown or black movements? Any pain?"

"Yeah, my gums have been bleeding for a bit now, and, um, yeah, I've had red blood from my bottom, and brown stuff that's not, you know, poop, and yes, it hurt, though it was worse immediately after the battle, I was going both ends if you know what I mean, guess it was the shock of the battle, Captain Lennox said puking and pooing were common amongst soldiers after fighting."

"I'm going to give you another kind of scan, Sam, hold still," Ratchet said as he scanned for energy and residual traces of certain types of energy. His results both did and did not surprise him.

"Sam, do you remember that the AllSpark, when it touched Megatron's dark-matter Spark, seemed to blow up in a controlled fashion?"

"Yeah, spectacular, but it seemed contained. Didn't you say that Megatron's Spark force field may have directed much of the blast back towards his Spark, shielding me but dooming him? I mean, my hands weren't burned, though I did get sunburned, even under my clothes!"

"Sam," Ratchet said, wishing he'd considered this before, "what you saw was only the parts of the explosion in the human visible light spectrum. More was emitted than what you saw and felt, and the Spark force field may not have been sufficient to protect you." He paused. "My scans suggest you are suffering from radiation sickness. I can treat you and there's a good possibility of survival, thankfully, your exposure level was not in the one hundred per cent lethal range, although death is still possible."

"I might die?" Sam said nervously.

"With our technology, we can reduce that risk to less than a five per cent chance," Ratchet said. At the time, he had believed it, had worked out how to make the necessary arrangements, and then he had got back the results of his other scan.

Sam had AllSpark energy inside him, and it was continuing to expose him to dangerous radiation, including one form that was unknown to most humans but still dangerous to his body. Oddly enough, Ratchet wondered if the energy still had some form of very basic consciousness, because in a Cybertronian, the emissions would be promoting healing and health. Unfortunately, organic tissues just became damaged, atrophied, and died. He could heal and mitigate the effects of the original exposure, but he could not stop the current exposure, and this ongoing irradiation would be likely to kill Sam. All Ratchet could do was to give palliative care, and pain relief.

Which is why they were here, two weeks on, watching Sam fade away. He was bed-bound, for the AllSpark radiation had atrophied his muscles and made his bones too fragile to support himself. He was propped up with pillows, and he moved his hand carefully to touch Judy's hand. She nearly startled, because his skin was so warm to the touch, which only meant one thing; he was about to drop into one of his sudden fevers again.

Ratchet could not explain the fevers. They came on suddenly, and in them, Sam seemed to hallucinate, having one-sided conversations. In one, he had been arguing with Miles about who had won a computer game, and in another one, he had told the recently-deceased Megatron exactly what he thought of him, which in less dire circumstances would have been highly amusing.

"I love you, Mum, Dad, and Bumblebee. Ratchet, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I thought it was nothing, and then that it would pass." He drew another breath as if to continue speaking, but then his skin flushed and his eyes rolled back in his head as he dropped limply against the mound of pillows propping him up; the fever Judy had felt building had struck.

Ratchet called for Cliffjumper to bring sheets and ice, and he put the sheets beside Sam's body, heaping ice cubes inside them and wrapping them up so Sam had ice either side to cool him down. As was usual during these episodes, Sam began having a one-sided conversation with himself.

"Hello?" A pause. "Who are you?" Obviously in this hallucination, he didn't know whoever he was talking to. There was a longer pause. "Really?" Pause. "Well, maybe I should apologise for what I did in Mission City." There was another long pause, during which Sam's breathing coarsened, and he began to sweat. Then "Yeah, I get that, but I guess we're too different. You're a life source for mechanical life, but death to life like me." Ratchet raised his head: it seemed Sam was this time hallucinating the AllSpark, and one that could talk, at that.

There was a pause so long that they thought that was it, and then Sam said "Really? You could?" There was another pause, and then "I guess, I wouldn't object, it's gonna be weird, but better than the alternative, right?" There was another long pause, and then Sam said. "Solves both our problems then, and I can do something for my friends." He relaxed, exhaled and inhaled, and then sat bolt upright with a shout of "Get back!", throwing his arms out in front of him. Ratchet heard bones crack at the unexpected violent movement, but he scooped Ron and Judy up in one arm and grabbed Bumblebee's shoulder and back-pedalled violently, his scanners whirring as Sam opened his eyes, which were blazing white-blue pools of light. Ron and Judy began to shout, wanting to know what was going on, but Ratchet tuned them out, focusing on Sam.

The next moment, Sam's body was engulfed in the same blue-white light, which Ratchet identified as AllSpark energy. He was surprised, he had thought the AllSpark was done with Sam, had thought the AllSpark gone for good. He was obviously wrong on both counts. He wondered at the conversation; had this one been not a hallucination, but a real conversation Sam had had, or was what he'd heard and what he was now witnessing not linked at all, the two happening one after the other just one massive coincidence? He briefly shook his head: coincidences like that were rarer than inexplicably linked events,

Tendrils of the light shot out from Sam, contacting metallic objects nearby; one touched Bumblebee, who was briefly haloed by the light, but then the light retreated from him and hit a stack of metal girders, which began to look as if they were dissolving. The other tendrils transferred to the girders, which began to visibly shrink and sag. After a short time, all the tendrils became re-absorbed into the light that occupied the space Sam had sat in. The light itself began to shrink and coalesce, and then disappeared, leaving a slender silver form where Sam had been. The figure groaned, rolled over, and sat up. Bumblebee and Ratchet, who had planned to check on Sam, took one look at him and were rendered speechless and motionless by what they saw.

"Well, that was different," the figure said, looking at the others. When there was no response, the figure blinked and looked at them again.

"Hi Mum, hi Dad, it's me, Sam." And then the figure addressed Bumblebee and Ratchet.

"What are you staring at?" A long, slender arm flourished at the body it was attached to.

"Haven't you ever seen a femme before?"

A/N: I feel I have written enough of these with a shocked/freaked out Sam, I wanted to write one where he's not too freaked out (though as you will see, he has dark thoughts about what it means later.) I will update this as and when I can: I have so many other stories clamouring for updates, I will have to do what I can when I can.

Any thoughts, ideas, or comments will be most welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

For The Race: Protection.

Chapter Two.

A/N: For story purposes, I have inserted some mechs from the G1 continuity into this story. Those of you who know how I write know I do this often. There are not enough canon mechs in the Movieverse to write a decent story.

Neither mech spoke, but they continued to stare, Ratchet shutter-blinking audibly several times. The first person to speak was Judy.

"Sam? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me." He - no, she - paused, looking around and then spotting Judy, focusing her attention on her human mother. "Yeah, I'm still Sam, just the AllSpark's made me, well, a bit different, but it's better than dying, right?" She paused again, before catching sight of her shaped and armoured but definitely feminine-looking legs. She stared at them. "Gee, this is gonna take some getting used to."

"For all of us," Judy said. "Didn't it give you the option of staying, well, male? Or did it just change you without asking?" She felt foolish. "Was there even anything conscious there, or was that your fever making you imagine things?"

"No, Mom, I can't say about the other times you told me about, but I really did have a conversation with the AllSpark's consciousness, and to be honest, I can cope with being a female Transformer." She thought but didn't say that she hoped she would be safe from the other Autobots. She'd never seen any female Transformers, and hoped the Autobot mechs wouldn't react the way human men deprived of female company for long periods of time were sometimes said to act when meeting a woman after all that time.

Sam heard and felt the play of a scanning beam over her form, and turned to find Ratchet scanning her.

"Do you mind? Ask first, please!" she said.

"Just checking, Sam, and your scans do suggest that your readings fall within normal femme values."

"You think the AllSpark would mess up?" Sam asked.

"Well, it 'messed up' your _organic_ systems, didn't it, and with it being so unused to humans, and the extent if the damage to your organic form, there was a real risk of error during the transition from organic to Cybertronian," Ratchet replied. "However, my scans confirm that it did not "mess up", as you put it."

"Well, I'm grateful, despite the gender catch," Sam said.

"We still need to confirm that your mental adjustment will keep pace with the physical changes," Ratchet said. "You have, until now, been male all of your relatively short life, and most humans seem to have a strong attachment to their biological gender, although there are enough exceptions to suggest that human gender can exhibit a certain fluidity. However, as a human you showed few signs of this fluidity, so you may yet have issues with your gender reassignment, particularly as it was not your idea to begin with." Much as Sam wished Ratchet would shut up, she had to admit the medic made a valid point.

"Well, we could talk about this till the end of time and it wouldn't change things, so how about we get started with my education?" She looked back at Ratchet. "You're the medic, Ratchet, what can you think of that I might need to know as a Cybertronian woman?"

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Most of the Decepticon listening devices were, due to the difficulty of getting into the Autobot Base undetected, outside the Base, but there was one exception. Two weeks previously, when the Lamborghini Twins had jet-judoed Skywarp, injuring him badly enough that Ratchet ordered him brought in for repairs, the dark Seeker had been placed on Ratchet's secondary work table, as the first had been covered in inventory parts.

Skywarp, uncommonly used to finding advantages and chances others might miss, had taken the opportunity, while Ratchet's back was turned to order components, to slip a listening bug under the work table he was lying on. That worktable happened to be the same one that Sam's human bed had been placed on earlier that day for what Ratchet had feared would be one of Sam's last meetings with his family, Bumblebee, and himself.

The five Seekers at the Decepticon Base took turns to allow a small corner of their processors to monitor the bug, because as boring and mundane as the chatter often was, it was more than any of their other bugs were relaying.

It was Thundercracker who was monitoring when certain key words he has flagged to get his attention came up, and he tuned in. He rewound the recorded conversation by a few minutes to a time before the key words were mentioned, back to a conversation between the human who had killed Megatron, his parental units, and the two Autobots Ratchet and Bumblebee. He listened to the conversation, stopping it and rewinding it at a certain point, before tying in his wing brothers, plus the two new Seeker arrivals, Shadowwing and Razorwing, and relaying it from the beginning, telling them to be patient and listen.

By the end of the recording, all five Seekers were alert. Starscream databurst a copy of the conversation to Soundwave and Barricade, asking them to listen to it, and to come to the Seeker's hangar once they had. Once they had reviewed the audio file, both Soundwave and Barricade turned up relatively swiftly, for although they could discuss it over com, certain kinds of discussions, through habit, were conducted face to face.

"So, the evidence from the bug is that the Autobots have a new, innocent, and vulnerable femme in their Base," Skywarp said.

"You heard what I heard", Thundercracker said. "That is what the whole conversation points to."

"Well, Sam himself, or maybe that should now be herself, has three times made references suggesting she is now a femme Cybertronian, and Ratchet has twice made reference to the same, so I think the risk of misinterpretation is low," Barricade said.

"Which means," Starscream said "that there is really, under the circumstances, only one thing that we can do. We just need to have some ideas of how to accomplish it." They all turned to look at Soundwave, who after a few moments, spoke to them.

"Soundwave-has-ideas. Soundwave-will-explain."

The rest of the Decepticons turned to face Soundwave as the Decepticon tactician began suggesting ideas.

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Ron and Judy had decided to head to the recreation room while Sam discussed the finer points of being a femme with Ratchet. They had some idea of what subjects might be raised, and couldn't really deal with it at that point in time. Ratchet took them to the med bay, left them in the capable and willing hands of Hound, and returned to the med bay.

Ratchet, of course, had no experience of being a femme, but had plenty of medically-accurate information, plus a myriad of ideas from the life he had led.

"Ironhide should be out of recharge within the joor, and I suggest that Ironhide outfit with you with some weaponry, as you so far seem to be lacking any of your own, unless it is very well concealed. It is likely that you have a basic arm blaster, like most are created with, but it would still be best that Ironhide show you how to deploy it, and help you choose extra weapons. As our Weapons Specialist, he has more knowledge than I do."

"Weapons?" Sam repeated in surprise. Ratchet blinked.

"Of course." He paused as he accessed the Internet. "Sam, Cybertron was not like Earth, femmes were quite welcome in our ranks from the beginning, and some of our fiercest warriors were femmes. On our side, we've had Arcee, who was a crack shot, and the hunter that no Decepticon wanted on their tail. Optimus' own femme, Elita-One, led a team of seven femmes as part of the Autobot resistance on Cybertron against the Decepticons, and they were second to none at what they did." He sighed. "I say "was" because to our knowledge they are dead. We have certainly not heard from any of them since leaving Cybertron, and the last we heard of Elita's team, they were trapped in Iacon by the Decepticons when the city fell. Unless they found a way to get out at the last minute, they are likely dead."

"What about Arcee?" Sam asked. She was pacing in front of Ratchet, who had decided walking was the first thing she needed to know, so had helped her get up and work out how to walk, and helped with her balance. She was now walking unaccompanied, albeit with a bit of a wobble, and pacing was basically practice and experience. The more walking Sam did, the quicker she'd get used to it, and the quicker she'd be able to practice running, something both Sam and Ratchet were eager to move on to, albeit for, unbeknownst to them, very different reasons.

"I never thought about needing to enter into combat again," Sam remarked, "although I guess I should have, after all, you are still at war."

"You don't have to fight, Sam, you could declare yourself neutral and nonaligned in the conflict, but we can't guarantee that the Decepticons would wait to look for a faction symbol, or ask whose side you're on. These days, there are few enough on both sides that if you see someone you don't know, they are likely to be from the other faction, and you shoot them before they shoot you. As I said, some femmes are more lethal than their mech counterparts, so they would still shoot at you. Both our sides tend to do that, it's just safer to assume the worst than to hesitate and get shot at for your trouble. And that's something else you'll probably need, a bit of extra armour, although the AllSpark's given you more of that then it did weapons," Ratchet said.

Sam looked down at herself as one hand ran itself down her other arm. Ratchet was right. Her shoulders, chest, lower arms, hips and legs all had extra layers of metal that Sam suspected were for aesthetics as much as protection, as much of it made her legs and arms look longer, or added extra curves in what most human males would think of as "the right places." Even the shock-absorber-suspension systems in her heels were longer versions of Bumblebee's, making Sam look like she was wearing high heels. At least she was now getting used to moving on them, and shouldn't have the associated aches and pains she'd heard Mikaela complain about. She idly wondered how she was; after her Dad had got his parole, a couple of days before Bumblebee took him to see Ratchet, they had gone off for a two week family holiday/reacquaintance, and her mom had banned Mikaela from taking her cell phone with her. Which was why Mikaela was likely still blissfully unaware of the fact that Sam had been so gravely ill, and that she was now mechanical and female.

So, Ratchet had mentioned weapons and armour, and Sam found the idea of actually being able to fight alongside her Autobot companions, instead of having to stay back or risk getting in their way, oddly appealing.

"I assume that I'll have to learn about, well, you know," Sam said, and groaned when Ratchet just looked puzzled. "What I mean is, that, the AllSpark Essence explained I was made female for a reason?" When Ratchet still looked puzzled, Sam shuttered her optics, wondering about how, for a being with awesome processing power, Ratchet could be so dense. She was about to try and find another way to explain, guessing that if she could still blush, her face would be as red as Optimus Prime's flame decals, when Ratchet said, "Oh, you mean interfacing!"

"If that's how you make new Cybertronians without the aid of the AllSpark, yes, Sam said, grateful that Ratchet had worked it out before she'd had to use the 'S' word.

"Well, it hasn't generally been used for that for hundreds of vorns amongst most of the Autobots," Ratchet said. "We mainly use it for recreational and relaxation purposes, rather than reproduction, but I guess that is going to have to change. But don't worry, Sam, we're hardly in a rush, it's not something you have to worry about for a long time yet. I can go through it if you want, but I mainly know the medical facts." Sam nodded: as much as she wanted to know, she couldn't get the sound of the first thing Ratchet had said to - or to be more accurate, about - her upon first meeting out of her head: "The boy's pheromone level indicates he wants to mate with the female." She guessed Ratchet's lessons about interface might involve similar 'Want-to-creep-into-hole-in-the-ground' moments. For a former negotiator, Ratchet could be awfully obtuse and too much to the point sometimes. Then Ratchet spoke again.

"It might be better to get Prime down here to explain it."

 _'Oh, God, no!'_ Sam thought, though she had to be honest, she wasn't sure which would be the lesser of two evils: discussing Cybertronian sex with Optimus, or with Ratchet. At that moment, Sam heard heavy footfalls, just as Ratchet said "In fact, here he comes now."

Sam looked up in horror as the Autobot Leader walked into the Medbay. He had obviously been told about Sam's own unexpected transformation, for Optimus merely inclined his head in Sam's direction, and said "Greetings." However, instead of talking to Ratchet about her, and then proceeding to terminally embarrass Sam, Optimus then turned to Bumblebee and said "I'm sending you and Cliffjumper out in the next breem to find out what the Decepticons are up to. Five Seekers have been spotted airborne, and apparently their ground forces are out as well. We need to find out where they are going, although we have our suspicions, we can only assume that they are on a raid. They are headed this way, and we lie between them and Nellis Base, so we suspect Nellis is their target. We are likely to need to engage them in combat in this area."

He looked about to say something else, when his optics flashed with an incoming com. "Seekers? Here? Now? On my way!" he said, just before there was a loud bang and the room they were in shook. "Sam, Bumblebee, stay here, it looks like they are attaching _us_. Ratchet, we need to get out and defend the Base." Optimus and the medic then left the room at a run. Sam and Bumblebee heard several more large sets of feet, likely Ironhide, the Twins, and Bluestreak, charge up the corridor, followed by the sound of some smaller feet following behind.

"We'll do better doing as we're told, Sam, and stay here. If I'm needed, they'll call me,' he said. "We have our six biggest and three other combat-ready 'bots up there, and I know Ironhide is dying to test out his anti-aircraft shells. That's if the Twins don't get the Seekers first."

A loud pop sounded in the Medbay, which was all the warning they got as a black and purple patterned Seeker seemed to appear from nowhere. As Bumblebee got to his feet, put himself between Sam and the invader, and began deploying his gun and battle mask, the Seeker turned and shot at him. As Sam cried out "Bumblebee!", wishing Ratchet had helped her work out how to activate the basic arm cannon he assumed she had, the dark mech pointed the weapon on his arm at her. She sprang to one side, and honestly thought she had jumped aside in time, but as she felt herself fall and her systems black out, she realised whatever he had used must be on a wide beam setting.

As Sam fell, Skywarp moved over, picking up the stunned femme, glad they had worked out that the move might be necessary. He warped out, getting her to their Base as quickly as possible, where he put her in a recharge chamber and set the dial for three breems. Then he warped back to the battle they had staged at the Autobot Base as a distraction to draw as many Autobots away from the Medbay as possible.

When Starscream saw Skywarp return, he knew their mission was accomplished. He called for Shadowwing, the biggest Seeker target, and Razorwing, the smallest and youngest, to retreat, and called off the grounders, who stopped fighting and sped away. Then he and his wing brothers rose into the air above the cloud level, before Skywarp gripped onto them and warped them back to their Base.

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As the Decepticons turned tail and ran, Optimus frowned. "That's odd, they attacked with no provocation, for no apparent gain, and they have left for no apparent reason, too."

"Medbay!" Ratchet said, having an awful feeling they had just been tricked. He and Optimus set out at a flat-out run down the corridor.

When they got back to the Medbay, their fears were confirmed when they found Bumblebee, who had been shot on heavy stun, unconscious on the Medbay floor, and no sign of Sam. The Decepticons, it seemed, had planned all this to get hold of Sam, and the Autobots had been thoroughly duped. They didn't know how, but somehow the Decepticons had become aware of Sam's new form, and the new, inexperienced, and now likely terrified femme was now in Decepticon hands.

A/N: For those wondering, Shadowwing and Razorwing are two OC mechs I inserted for story purposes. Shadowwing started life as an F-117 Nighthawk "Stealth fighter") but as they are now obsolete, he will probably have to be a B-2 Spirit ("Stealth bomber") which are still used. Razorwing is a Sea Harrier, still in use in America (but regrettably, not here in the UK any more.)


	3. Chapter 3

For The Race: Protection.

Chapter Three.

A/N: I am using G1 colours for the Seekers here, and, for story purposes, referencing some G1 history in this chapter. Speech _'like this'_ is databurst or commed speech. Text **_like this_** is a visual representation or memories being shared.

The three Command Trine Seekers stood next to the recharge unit, waiting for its cycle to end. Their optics were all watching the recharging femme who lay curled up inside.

"That went smoothly," Skywarp said. "I don't think they suspected a thing!"

"That's because we don't often use decoy tactics, and we won't be able to for some time now, they will remember this," Thundercracker said.

"That's not important, the important thing is that our mission was a success, and we've got the femme out from their Base," Starscream said. He turned to his wing brothers, and looked at them, pleased with the day's work.

"For now, at least, she is safe."

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Sam awoke slowly, feeling rested, but with an abominable headache. She wondered why she was lying down, then recalled being ill, so maybe...

Then her current memories caught up with her, and her optics snapped wide open as she sat up abruptly, so abruptly that her helm struck the recharge canopy with a sharp 'crack!' She shook her head in reflex as her optics briefly crossed, and the sound echoed around the room outside, and she dropped back in confusion.

At that moment, the canopy lifted, and she brought her hands up reflexively as she saw three sets of heads and shoulders lean over to peer at her. She recognised Starscream, and the black Seeker who had taken her, but not the blue one, and she tried to shrink back, feeling very vulnerable on her back, weaponless, with three big mechs looming threateningly over her.

"Back off, you two, she's frightened!" the blue Seeker said, almost as if he was reading her mind. "She knows both of you and has reason to be scared of both of you, just look, she's terrified!"

The faces of Starscream and his dark companion retreated, but the blue one stayed where he was. He bent closer, and she twisted her head aside, a slight whimper escaping her vocaliser as she prepared herself for the worst.

Then she turned her head to face him again, bracing her elbows and hips against the surface she lay on and drawing her knees up to her chest. She had this metal body, right, and it had to be useful for something. If they were going to try anything nefarious, she had few illusions that she could actually stop them, but she could and would fight back. If she had to shove them, punch them, and kick like the proverbial mule and dent armour, then so be it, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She also wondered if screaming would do any good, sound could be used as a weapon, right? After all, Bumblebee had shattered all the windscreens of the cars around him in Bobby Bolivia's lot when Bobby Bolivia had almost refused to sell him to Sam.

The blue mech must have seen something in her optics, because he suddenly withdrew from her line of sight, but she could hear him still talking as he retreated.

"Sam, it's okay, we mean you no harm. My name is Thundercracker. Please don't be so scared, we got you here at great personal risk, and had we wanted to harm you, we could have done so before you awoke. You're safe now, we won't let anybody hurt you."

"Huh?" Sam said, surprised. She'd expected to be imprisoned, threatened, and possibly, considering the 'only-femme-on-Earth' factor, even forced, but being assured she was safe had not featured anywhere in her ideas of what they might say to her.

She sat up, and nearly lay down again, wanting to curl up in a ball, when she saw that Barricade and another big blue and white mech with a battle mask and a red visor instead of optics whose name she did not know were also in the room. Instead, she took a deep intake of air in her vents and said "I was perfectly safe before you took me."

"Sam, I know the Autobots were careful with you when you were human, and male, but the Autobots have a history that they don't want anybody to know about when it comes to femmes and sparklings," Starscream said.

"What do you mean?" Sam said.

"Did Optimus Prime tell you about his femme counterpart, Elita-One?" Starscream asked.

"Not him, no, but Ratchet did, and he said she was stuck on Cybertron, in a city called Iacon, with Decepticons closing in, and they haven't heard from any of their femme's since, so think they are dead, which, I believe, is pretty much why I am like this," she said.

"Did he tell you why she ended up in a city falling to the enemy?" Starscream asked.

"He said she was part of the Autobot Resistance, I'm guessing they didn't manage to get out in time before the city fell, and got killed," Sam said. "Similar things have happened on Earth."

"She was stuck in the city, Sam, because Optimus launched off, and didn't take her with him," Starscream said. "He abandoned her, didn't even try to wait for her."

Sam pulled back as if slapped.

"No, Optimus wouldn't do that!" Sam said.

"Sam, I have it on very good authority that he did. She even got there just before he lifted off, asking to come with him, and he refused to take her with him."

"There's worse," Thundercracker said. "On Cybertron, some time before Iacon fell and they left, they found a sparkling in the aftermath of a battle, and took it with them. They met up with some more Autobots in a nearby workshop. We raided the workshop, where they were repairing the Autobot you know as Bumblebee. We found the sparkling, or what was left of it, after they left, being chased by Starscream and the Conehead Trine. The sparkling was partially disassembled, no life left in it. Many parts and components were missing, and we believe they cannibalised it to repair Bumblebee."

"No," Sam said, slipping down from the recharge berth, and starting to back off. "Now I know you're lying, they wouldn't do that, Bumblebee wouldn't let that happen, they wouldn't sacrifice a sparkling like that!"

"Maybe they didn't, maybe it died for some other reason, but it seems ominous that they took a healthy-looking sparkling into the workshop, and less than a joor later - that's about six hours, Sam - we found the sparkling's partially dismantled and lifeless form in the same room where they had repaired Bumblebee. We hadn't seen Bumblebee before, in fact he was one of three we hadn't met before, but we saw him being carried into the workshop, he must have been damaged, but when they fled, he fled under his own power."

"No, no, I don't believe you," Sam said, continuing to back off.

"Sam, I saw it myself," Thundercracker said. "I can show you my memories if you want."

"Probably altered to back you up," Sam said.

"Not altered, Sam, I swear. Please, let me show you." He reached a hand out, kneeling to bring his face more to her level. "We only wish to make sure you are safe, Sam, we won't expect you to have sparklings if you don't want to, and we'll defend you from any who try to make you do anything you don't want to." He paused. "We took you to bring you to safety, we've brought you here so you can be under our protection."

Sam was about to refute the allegations again, but then remembered her own uncertainty regarding the Autobot's possible reaction to her, her fear that sex-starved mechs might be as bad as sex-starved human males, and nodded.

"Okay, you can show me, but it doesn't mean I'll believe it," she said. Now she knew the footage existed, she wanted to see it, if only to pick out errors in it that would prove it had been altered to try and shake her faith in the Autobots.

Thundercracker came closer and said "You may notice, Sam, that there is a data lead in your wrist, right there," he said, pointing out the cunningly-concealed device at her wrist. She picked it out and pulled a length of wire loose.

"Plug it in here, and I can show you the memory," he said, bowing in front of her to expose the data ports at his neck. She hesitated, then pushed the data lead in, and-

 ** _Abruptly she was flying above part of Cybertron, but was aware it wasn't her, but Thundercracker. She was aware through him that the city was Iacon, and he noticed a group of three Autobots, two carrying the third, who was, although somewhat different, nonetheless recognisable as Bumblebee. He was completely limp, and they carried him into the workshop. A short time later, another group of Autobots came up, amongst them was recognisably Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Ironhide. Optimus had something in the crook of one arm, that closer examination revealed was a little green sparkling, which wriggled and clicked in his grasp. Thundercracker, having observed the meeting, told Starscream, who was in a different area of the city, as was Skywarp, as they were on reconnaissance. Starscream contacted Megatron to inform him, and Megatron told them to observe the workshop, wait for the Coneheads to join them, and then they would attack when Megatron gave the order._**

 ** _They were waiting airborne for almost a whole joor, and then the order came to attack. They fired at the workshop, and it wasn't long before the Autobots came running out, fired a few shots, realised they were at a disadvantage, and fled, Optimus hurrying a now-mobile Bumblebee along, sheltering him a little with his arm. As the rest of the Command Trine and the Coneheads set off in pursuit, it was Thundercracker who noticed that neither Optimus nor any of the other Autobots were carrying the little green sparkling, and a quick scan confirmed none of the Autobots had the sparkling hidden on their person._**

 ** _As the others gave chase, Thundercracker landed, and went into the workshop, and it was there that he found the green sparkling, in several pieces, hardly any internal wiring left, no memory chips or processors left in the empty shell of a head, the little chest open, both optics missing and half its plating also missing. Thundercracker let out a cry of distress, picking up the pieces, holding them, and hating the Autobots for what they had done with everything he had in his Spark-_**

Sam reeled back, breaking the connection, holding her head with her hands. She hadn't realised the emotions in the memory would be so strong, so overwhelming, and she knew Thundercracker had not altered the memories, because those sort of emotions could not be falsified. Thundercracker himself believed them, and said he had witnessed this firsthand, and the emotions and memories seemed to confirm what he had told her. All the evidence pointed to the Autobots having done and permitted unspeakable things, and she felt grief, alarm, and anger rise in her systems.

Her optics flashed as she sent a com, and then she cried out in distress, backed up a few steps, and then seemed to fold up as she dropped to the floor. Thundercracker went over and checked her, before picking her up and taking her back to the recharging chamber.

"I don't believe she's had a chance for a full recharge, and that is a new body. I suggest we put her in for a twelve-hour recharge, and hopefully that will help with the mental confusion too," Starscream said.

"I hope so, but I think she will need help, because from her perspective, her world has been turned upside down. Suddenly we are the good guys, the Autobots are the bad guys and she is hurt by their betrayal of those most vulnerable. She held Optimus, Bumblebee and the others to a high standard, and they failed to be what they made themselves out to be to her," Thundercracker said. He fisted his hands.

"Something else we may have to make the Autobots pay for."

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Optimus' head came up as he detected an incoming com. It was from Sam! He opened his own comm system to receive it, and nearly fell backwards as he received the angry, anguished message.

 _'How could you do that? How could you abandon your femme? How could you kill and cannibalise that sparkling? How could Bumblebee allow it? I never want to see or speak to any of you ever again! Leave me alone!'_ Then the message cut off abruptly, leaving Optimus feeling dazed, and wondering just what Sam had been talking about.


	4. Chapter 4

For The Race: Protection.

Chapter Four.

A/N: Not sure how often I'll be able to update after this, see my profile for a little more detail.

1 joor = about 6.5 hours.

Optimus was still reeling from the anger in that com, and the accusations Sam had made. Abandoning his beloved Elita? Never! Killing and cannibalising a sparkling? Even the thought had him almost backing up his fuel lines in revulsion.

Optimus, his head still ringing with the accusations, decided he had better talk to Ratchet, Ironhide, and Prowl, because they needed to find out where Sam was. In her vulnerable situation, she was susceptible to suggestion, and judging by that com, the Decepticons were already spreading lies about them. He was very concerned about Sam's state of mind, and the conditions she might be being kept in.

However, what really bothered Optimus was the speed with which Sam seemed to believe the Decepticons, and the accusations she had obviously got from them.

Just what had the Decepticons told her?

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When Sam came to, she was back in the recharge chamber. Remembering, and wishing to avoid repeating, the way she smacked her head on the canopy last time, she looked up through the glass bubble, as her memories came back to her. She remembered the accusations Starscream and Thundercracker had made about the Autobots in general, and about Optimus, and Bumblebee in particular.

She recalled her angry com, with some regret, because with a bit of distance between the telling and her awakening, she could think rather than just react, and thinking was telling her that she should have asked Optimus for an explanation. The old saying usually held true, there were generally two sides to every story, after all, and she had not allowed Optimus to explain his side. She winced as she recalled telling Optimus that she never wanted to see him or any of the others ever again. With the tone she had used, he probably felt the same, and she sighed as she realised she had cut her options in less than half with one angry com.

The sigh must have been audible outside the recharge chamber, for the head and shoulders of Thundercracker peered in for a moment before he lifted the canopy for her. As she sat up, Starscream himself stood to one side, standing in a most odd pose, one hand out, wrist bent down, one leg bent at right angles, and one foot in the air like some sort of cybernetic character from a futuristic Greek frieze. It only took her a moment to realise that the hand and the leg were both at perfect levels, the first for her to grab and the second to stand on to allow her a graceful descent from the recharge unit, and she took the opportunity, feeling grateful that her smaller size had been taken into account by the larger mechs.

"We trust you are feeling better after your rest, Sam?" Barricade, who also present, asked. As he was closer to her own height, she was oddly grateful he was there.

"Yeah, I guess, a bit clearer, I guess, and definitely less tired," she said.

"Were you shown how to refuel by the Autobots? Or use your weapons?" Barricade asked.

"Fuelling, yes, weapons, no, they were planning that when you arrived and attacked," Sam said.

"Okay, first, we get you fuelled, and then I will check your weapons," Barricade said. "Follow me."

Dutifully, Sam followed.

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Optimus had not only called Ironhide and Prowl in, but Ratchet and Bumblebee. The more processors could be set to the matter, the better, and surely adding a mech with negotiation training, and the Base's resident expert on Sam, at least as a human, could not hurt. One or both, he had hoped, might be able to shed light on the situation. So far, little progress had been made on working out what the Decepticons had told Sam, or how they might have persuaded her that Optimus had abandoned Elita, or that any of them had killed and dismantled a sparkling to repair one of their own adults.

"Elita came as we were blasting off, I did tell her she couldn't come, but only because I felt it was too dangerous," Optimus said. "My point was proved when our launch site was attacked, missiles coming in from all sides. Our ship barely escaped before the launch site went up in a blazing fire that looked as if it had erupted from the Pit itself. Nobody could have survived that, I thought. I admit I failed her by not finding someone to keep her occupied until we were gone. We deliberately launched earlier than we had planned, because we got wind of an attack coming, but none of us realised that the Decepticons had also planned to attack earlier than we thought." He paused to collect his thoughts before speaking again.

"Had I realised the attack was so close, I would have done what it took to get her aboard." He paused again. "It was later, much later, that I heard rumours that she had escaped, rumours that were later confirmed, but only after Iacon had fallen to the Decepticons, and the femmes had been trapped and cornered, and by the time I heard, were widely believed to have been killed by the invading forces."

"I can see how the Decepticons might have taken that one and twisted it, but the whole sacrificing a sparkling to repair our own?" Ratchet asked. "Where did they get that awful idea from, and why is Sam taking their word for it?"

"It's the second part of your statement that has me concerned," Prowl said. "I have read of a condition that can afflict humans known as "Stockholm Syndrome", where a hostage comes to sympathise or empathise with their kidnapper. There is a Cybertronian equivalent, but in both cases, more time needs to have elapsed for it to develop. If Sam had been held for even days, I would assume that this is what has happened, but this happened less than half a joor after her abduction. They must have fabricated something pretty convincing to get her to reject us all quite so thoroughly."

"I suspect the only answer lies with Sam and her kidnappers, and that the only way we may get answers is to go in there, capture Sam ourselves, bring her back, and find out," Optimus said.

One by one, each Autobot found themselves agreeing with Optimus' supposition.

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Barricade turned Sam's arm with a surprisingly gentle and precise touch, in spite of the claws.

"Yes, you have the usual weak arm cannons, but there are several points on your armour that would take weapons attachment, I can make any necessary modifications. I hate to say this, Sam, but if the Autobots attempt to steal you back from us, you may find yourself needing to defend yourself until one or more of us can assist you, and for that, you need more than that basic weak laser cannon."

Sam remembered with a pang that the Autobots had planned for it to be Ironhide who was to have been making this same sort of assessment of her, and quickly pushed the regret aside. She had to concentrate on the here and now, not on what Optimus and Ratchet had been telling her. She guessed she had figuratively burned any bridges back to the Autobots with that com, after all, she had received no attempt at communication back from any of them, not even Bumblebee. Either they had taken her request at her word, or were too ashamed or maybe has no proof to offer her that they had not done what Starscream and Thundercracker had claimed.

If it was the former, then they had left her with whom they assumed she had chosen. If the latter, maybe she really was better off without them, although the more she tried to convince herself of that, the less convincing she sounded, even to herself.

"Shoulder cannons, or even a pair of rocket launchers might work for you, although you don't want to end up top-heavy," Barricade said, breaking into her thoughts. "And we can power up your arm cannons so even Optimus would feel it if you fired at him."

Sam imagined shooting at Optimus, and then him bringing that fearsome cannon he could transform his arm into to bear upon her, and shuddered.

"With all due respect, I hope it doesn't come to that, his return of fire could atomise me!" She squeaked. Barricade gave a brief laugh.

"I doubt that would be something you would need to worry about, at least at first," Barricade said. "He would still want to convince you he has your best intentions at heart, and maybe at first he would, but even the most incorruptible-seeming mech can justify what they see as the best for the greater good. 'The needs of the many', and all that. Never mind the needs of the few that might be sacrificed."

"But - would Optimus do that? I thought that Primes were meant to be like, well, the best of the best?" Sam asked.

"Sentinel Prime did, Sam. As his name suggested, he started out as a guardian of the Autobots, and their values, a noble calling and with noble plans for our world, but the rot set in well before then, and he was a product of that system," Starscream said, moving into view.

"He betrayed half of the planet, because they were not Autobot, and they did not follow what he believed. Why would Optimus not, with the same upbringing, turn out the same? 'The needs of the many' was Sentinel's personal catchphrase, but he only included Autobots in that number, and he sacrificed many Decepticons to help prop up the corruption of the Autobot-dominated Senate. At one time, Sam, Primes were the best of the best, it was why we had two Golden Ages, but it only takes the greed of the few privileged to ruin it for the rest of the population. When the Primes first became corrupted, the world slid into a Long Dark Age. We recovered, partly due to a courageous Decepticon femme, and were fortunate enough to enter a second Golden Age."

"You would think that we learned from it," Barricade said, as Starscream stepped aside, "but no, Sentinel began our race's plunge into our second Long Dark Age. That is where we stand now, and we will continue to keep sliding down, unless we can do something to change things. Sam, I have heard nothing to convince me that your Optimus Prime is any different. Same rearing, same faults, and same greed."

"He's not, and never has been, 'my' Optimus Prime, and, well...he never seemed like that," Sam said weakly.

"They never did, Sam, that was sometimes their advantage. They could deceive better than those they named 'Decepticons', but nobody found them out, nobody with the power to make a difference, at any rate." He paused, and took a breath. "However, we were discussing Optimus Prime, and that his intentions might be good, but I believe even you humans have a saying about good intentions, because intent does not always translate into the correct actions."

"Yes, I believe the road to a very hot place is supposed to be paved with good intentions," Sam said. Barricade nodded.

"We have our own saying, Sam, that good intentions do not always result in good deeds."

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"Optimus, should I first try to contact Sam? Maybe she would talk to me?" Bumblebee said. "I was the first Autobot she met as a human, and I saved her - well, him at the time - from Barricade,"

"No, Bumblebee, she seemed adamant that she didn't want to talk to any of us, and she named you in her com. She could raise the alarm, which would lose us the element of surprise," Optimus pointed out.

Bumblebee visibly drooped, but he did understand the situation. If Sam's one angry and anguished com was anything to go by, the Decepticons were managing to be exceptionally persuasive. This meant, as Ratchet had earlier pointed out, that in the two joors they had spent planning this raid, Sam might have since become a fully-signed up member of the Decepticon faction. This did not, of course, automatically make her their enemy, but it did mean they also could not rely on her being their friend.

"We still do not know what they told her, and how they convinced her of what she accused us of so quickly," Prowl pointed out. "We are going into a potential battle situation with nowhere near the amount of facts I would prefer us to have, but we are going because the longer we wait is potentially the more chance the Decepticons have to turn Sam against us, possibly irreversibly. We need all the advantages we can get, and Sam's loyalties are currently suspect. Maybe Soundwave is influencing her, or maybe they have another persuasive mech putting pressure on her, or even a morpher who can imitate her, while she is continuously reset, or held in stasis. No, Bumblebee, until we have more facts in our possession, I suggest that we stick with the in-grab-out plan we all came up with. You're a Captain, if you think the situation changes enough to take the risk to change the plan, you can do so, but I caution you, be very sure that the risk is worth it before you commit to it."

Bumblebee bobbed his head in understanding: he knew how close he had come to being dropped due to his previous contact with Sam, only Ratchet, Ironhide, and Optimus Prime's personal recommendations stopping Prowl from replacing him with Sideswipe.

"Okay, radio silence from now on," said Prowl, who then used hand signals to wave the Autobot team inwards towards the earlier-confirmed location of the Decepticon base.


	5. Chapter 5

For The Race: Protection

Chapter Five.

A/N: there's a swear word used close to the end of the chapter, and to clarify my use of that word, "p****d off" = extremely angry.

Prowl returned to where Optimus, Ratchet, and Bumblebee waited, our of sight of the Decepticon Base.

"There are two Seekers aloft and several grounders on watch," he reported. "I do not know if I was seen, I observed them from a distance. What I will say is that I think even Bumblebee would have trouble sneaking in, let alone you, Ratchet, or you, Prime."

"Could we call some of the others, start a battle while one or two sneak in to rescue her?' Bumblebee asked. Prowl shook his head.

"Apart from the risk of Sam raising the alarm, I think, having used that tactic themselves, they will be on guard against us using the same trick on them," Prowl explained.

"What about if you disguise yourself as Barricade and go in that way?" Optimus asked Prowl. Again the tactician shook his head.

"That would be reliant on Barricade being indisposed or out of the Base, and that could take time. Plus, it might require acting skills I fear I do not possess."

"Then perhaps we should do something unexpected," Optimus said. "Follow me."

He pulled out onto the road and headed towards the Decepticon Base.

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Barricade looked up from fitting shoulder launchers to Sam's armour as his optics flickered. He growled.

"Autobots have been sighted approaching, Sam, we were not expecting them to act so fast. We will be joined by Thundercracker and Soundwave in a moment, the others will go out to challenge them."

"Please tell me what happens, and what they say," Sam said, her heart torn between feeling grateful that the Autobots were bothering to come, and fear that they might not be considering her wishes.

Thundercracker came in and said "Optimus Prime, Rstchet, Bumblebee, and Prowl have been sighted approaching, and are making no attempt to stay hidden. I have been sent to make sure they are not going to try and send in Mirage while we keep them away, or try to attack using a bigger force from the back." Soundwave entered a few minutes later, but did not say a word, and Sam looked at Barricade.

"Only four of them?" Sam asked.

"Two smaller and two larger makes sense tactically," Barricade said. "It can act as a strike team, especially with a heavy hitter like Optimus Prime, and swell-armoured mech like Ratchet who can take some hits before going down, or as a stealth team, one or both smaller ones for sneaking in, and Optimus and Ratchet as backup if they find they need more time to sneak in, out, both, or flee."

He turned back to continue fitting the launchers.

"You should be safe enough at the moment, but once these have been installed, and you are used to their weight, you need to learn how to use them, and the sooner the better."

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As they approached the gates of the Decepticon Base, two

vehicles drew up and transformed.

"We have weapons trained on you from the ground and the air. You are outnumbered. Leave, now," one of them said.

"We came to ask if the femme abducted from our base, Samuel James Witwicky, is safe and well, and ask that we may talk," Optimus replied.

At that moment, Starscream, who had been flying above the clouds in robot form, dropped down to confront them.

"I doubt she wants to speak to you, not after what we told her about what you had done."

"What lies you told her, you mean!" Bumblebee said.

"We told her no lies, only the truth," Starscream said.

"Abandoning femmes? Cannibalising sparklings?" Optimus said. "We did no such thing."

"Thundercracker saw the evidence with his own optics!" Starscream said. "We did what we had to do to keep Sam safe from you and the other Autobots."

"If Sam's safety is really your priority, then it seems that we both want the same thing for her," Optimus said. "We were wondering if we could talk to you, and to her, which is why we approached openly and have not transformed into robot mode, we approached with peaceful intent. We could have come and attacked your Base en masse, but we have not. I ask you to consider our request."

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"They are denying what we told you, calling it lies, but they are now claiming to want to talk," Barricade said.

"It appears they are being truthful about coming alone, Skywarp reports that he can't see or scan any others approaching from any direction," Thundercracker told them.

"They want to talk?" Sam repeated.

"That's what they say," Barricade said, his emphasis on the last word giving his opinion on the veracity of the Autobots' claim.

"Well, if you think they are bluffing, how about we call their bluff?" Sam suggested.

"It's too dangerous, and it'll just be the usual Autobot lies and manipulative bluster', Barricade said.

"I want to hear what they have to say about your accusations," Sam said. "I want to know the reasons they would give for their actions."

"They'll just give their usual lies and say they didn't do it," Barricade said.

"I want to see them, I want to ask them, don't you want to know why they did it?" Sam said, this time looking at Thundercracker. She pushed herself off the worktable she was sitting on, and immediately toppled forward, Barricade catching her to steady her, Thundercracker carefully picking her up and sitting her back on the work surface.

"Sam, the new weapons have changed your centre of balance, you will have to learn to walk again with the added weight, and I don't think it's worth the risk of taking you outside when you can't even walk, let alone run or dodge," Barricade said.

"Then call them in, bring them in here, surely some of the people you have outside can guard them in here? They'd be fools to attempt anything in a small confined room when they are outnumbered."

"Yes," Thundercracker said. "I would like to see how the Autobots respond to our questions, I have always wanted to know why they would cannibalise a sparkling when there were so many dead, albeit damaged, adult bodies they could have salvaged from." He fisted his hands again.

"I do want to ask them why."

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Starscream was about to tell the Autobots that there was nothing to talk about, that they should turn and return the way they had come before they were shot, when a com came through from Thundercracker. He blinked, looked surprised, and then spoke.

"You are in luck, Autobots, it seems that both the young femme and one of my wingbrothers are, in fact, interested in talking to you. You will, however, have to come inside our Base to do so. I insist that you keep your weapons powered down, or I cannot be held responsible for the reaction of my mechs, who are, after all, feeling protective of Sam."

The three Autobots agreed, and converted to robot form. As was usual, they came out in battle mode, but quickly powered down and put away their weapons, retracted their battle masks, and lowered combat-ready armour and shielding. Then Starscream called down a large unknown Seeker he addressed as Shadowwing, and called one of the mechs on the gate to accompany them. Then Starscream led the Autobots in, Optimus and Ratchet first, Prowl and Bumblebee side-by-side behind them, and the big Seeker and the gate-mech bringing up the rear behind them.

They came in, and saw Sam sat on the worktable, with Barricade standing beside and slightly in front of her, and Bumblebee said "Sam!" He took a step forward towards her, but Optimus' arm and hand barred his way.

"Easy, Bumblebee, we don't want to startle her, or her protectors." Bumblebee realised he'd almost made a potentially dangerous error, and stepped back.

"We are pleased to see that you are safe, Sam, we were concerned at the speed and nature of your departure," Optimus said.

Sam didn't expect the sense of relief that swept over her at the sight of Optimus' familiar, reassuring form, and came close to telling him so, but remembered they were here to talk, and mainly for Optimus to explain why the Decepticons believed Optimus had abandoned his femme, and why Thundercracker had found what he had so long ago on Cybertron.

"Yes, I'm safe, that is, apparently why the Decepticons took me, they seem to think I need protecting from you and the other Autobots, and the first thing I want to ask you, is did you deny your femme permission to board your ship when she asked you to let her on? Is it true, and if so, why?"

Optimus sighed, his optics dimming a little, his big frame seeming to sag.

"Yes, Sam, to my cost, I did deny her permission to come with me, but only because I was in possession of intelligence that suggested the ship itself would be targeted by heavy Decepticon fire, and I feared the situation would be too dangerous, which I did tell her. I didn't realise that the entire launch area would be targeted, and I saw her engulfed in flames and explosions." A shudder ran through Optimus' big frame, making his plating rattle noisily. "I thought nobody could survive that, I had nightmares where I saw it again and again, I relived what I thought was her death many times over. It was later I found out she had somehow survived, and by then, Iacon had fallen and, by all accounts, all resistance had been crushed, all who resisted presumed dead."

Optimus looked so vulnerable that Sam wanted to run over to comfort him, but her lack of balance, among other things, stopped her. She saw both Bumblebee and Ratchet reach out to touch Optimus' arms in a comforting manner, and had tuned out the rest of the room while thinking, so that when Thundercracker spoke, she flinched in surprise.

"And what about the sparkling on Cybertron that your Ratchet cannibalised to repair one of your own? I saw and still possess the evidence of that, and I know you were present, so don't deny it!" Thundercracker was shaking with rage, and even Starscream and the gate-mech took a step back from the scary sight of thirty-one foot of pissed-off Seeker as he stalked closer to the three Autobots, who also took a step or two back.

"I would not condone, nor do I recall an incident such as you describe, but if you have evidence, I ask you to share it with us," Optimus replied, straightening up and looking Thundercracker in the optics.

Thundercracker didn't reply verbally, but stepped back, and then he played back the memory he had shown Sam earlier so everyone could see, using his optics to project the image, much as Optimus had for Sam and Mikaela when he had explained about the war to them when he first met them.

Everybody watched in silence as they saw the two groups of Autobots, one group with Optimus, who was carrying the wriggling green sparkling, the other group carrying a prone Bumblebee, looking somewhat different from his current appearance but still recognisable, and both groups entered the building. Then the attack that sent all the Autobots, including Bumblebee, running from the building, and finally, Thundercracker entering the building after noticing the little green sparkling was not being carried by any of the fleeing Autobots, and finally, finding what parts of the sparkling were left, lifeless and with all the memory chips gone, and many other components missing.

The display stopped, and Thundercracker looked up angrily at Optimus again.

"There! There is my proof!" He glared at Bumblebee. "That sparkling was sacrificed so that you could be repaired and made to function again." He glared at Ratchet, "And you performed it, breaking your meducal oath." He then looked back at Optimus as both Bumblebee and Ratchet reacted, Ratchet shaking his head in denial, and Bumblebee giving a startled warble.

"Why did you approve that? There were bodies in the street that would have had suitable parts, You, Ratchet, could have made repairs using those. If you couldn't cope with the sparkling, why not just leave it somewhere safe? You even took it's processors and memory chips, but there would have been more available in an adult body if you were that desperate, so why?" The anger in the seeker's voice was replaced with distress, as Thundercracker punctuated his question with a desolate keen.

"Because I wanted my own memories and personality to follow my Spark into my new body," Bumblebee said into the silence that followed Thundercracker's outburst. "You misunderstood the situation and what you found." Bumblebee paused before speaking again as every optic watched. "That wasn't a repair operation, it was a sparkling transfer into an adult body." He drew air into his vents as he allowed the information he was giving to sink in, and then, to clarify for those who hadn't got it, he continued.

"That sparkling was me."


	6. Chapter 6

For The Race: Protection.

Chapter Six.

Text _**like this**_ is a visual record.

There was a moment of tense silence following Bumblebee's announcement, but then Thundercracker said "Prove it. I showed you my proof, so I want to see yours. Prove that you were that sparkling." The Seeker's voice sounded tired, the anger and distress had obviously taken its toll.

Bumblebee nodded in acknowledgement, paused for a few seconds, and then he, too, relayed a selection of memories to all present, projecting them through his optics so they appeared 3D and almost solid.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

 ** _He clung to his Creator, his small green body, matching her own, being jogged as she ran with him, the smell of ozone and ionised air strong around him, and he heard the song of lasers and the discordant sound of stressed metal and crumbling buildings as the laser fire hit items and mechs nearby._**

 ** _Suddenly his Creator stumbled as a laser blast struck her, and she almost fell, but managed to recover herself, running again. However, vital seconds had been lost, allowing some of her pursuers to gain on her. Again he heard stressed metal screech, and his Creator went down with a screech of her own._**

 ** _"I am sorry, but if they think you already dead, you may yet live," she said, as she hit his reset relay, and everything went dark._**

 ** _When he came around again, everything was fairly quiet. He waited for a short time, listening for sounds of danger, and although there was the sound of someone moving nearby, there was none of conflict or weapons fire. He chanced activating his optics, and he found himself looking at his Creator, and hurriedly sat up to look at her. She was totally limp, her optics unlit, and he touched her, finding her cold and inert. He tried shaking her, calling to her, comming her, and it was while he was doing this over and over, becoming increasingly panicked at the lack of response, that the others found him and moved over, his desperation making him oblivious to their presence until one of them spoke._**

 ** _"What have we here?"_**

 ** _He cowered against his Creator's body, she had spoken of how being the same colour could act as camouflage for him, but they had seen him move._**

 ** _"It's a sparkling," a different voice said. "Poor thing." He felt as much as saw a pale green scanning beam run up and down his form. Big blue hands reached down for him, even as he tried to keep out of reach and failed, but the hands were gentle, their motion soothing as they lifted him to a broad red chest with silver grillework, which he clung to with a whimper of fear._**

 ** _"There there little one, you are safe now," the first voice - recognisable as Optimus Prime's - said. "Ratchet, scan for any life signs around here." He heard the scanner beam again, and saw one of the other mechs - a silver and white mech with small red motifs on its body - scan with the same beam used on him._**

 ** _"None, Prime, the sparkling appears to be the only survivor," Ratchet said. Bumblebee knew enough to understand even as the mech holding him said with regret "Even the one he was trying to rouse?"_**

 ** _"I'm sorry, Prime, there is no sign of life in her."_**

 ** _He cried out, tried to wriggle out of the mech's grasp to get back, his creator couldn't be dead, surely?_**

 ** _"I am sorry, little one, you will be safe with us, but for now, we need to get you to safety, which will be easier if you are not squirming," Optimus said, as the big mech found and pressed the little sparkling's reset relay in an unconscious imitation of his Creator's own actions, and he blacked out again._**

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

"Sharing these is not easy," Bumblebee said. "Parts of these memories are either very private, somewhat painful, or both." He nodded his head to Thundercracker, who looked about to speak.

"I imagine it is the same for you, but you shared anyway, so understand I am not complaining, just stating the fact. If I am slightly slow to continue, that is why."

Thundercracker chose not to reply to this verbally, but just nodded, before making a 'carry on' gesture with one hand.

Bumblebee paused to allow the images to sink in, and then started displaying the next memory he had ready.

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 ** _"You are going to need a new body, little one, the one you have is basic, and limited in memory, amongst other things." The voice was Ratchet's, and the medic was crouched in front of the observer._**

 ** _The little sparkling nodded, this evidenced by the image seeming to bob up and down._**

 ** _"I know." Bumblebee's sparkling voice was fairly high, but beautifully clear. "I want a full sized body, I want to be able to keep up with you all, and run and fight without holding you up."_**

 ** _"That makes sense, too, because although intermediate and adult bodies are still available if you know where to go, that may not be true in a few vorns," Ratchet said."_**

 ** _"Exactly, I want an adult body if you can get one," the sparkling Bumblebee said._**

 ** _All those who were observing had an idea that some time had passed since the little sparkling's discovery, for both Ratchet and Optimus had a few new scratches and damage marks, looked a bit dull and dirty in places, and had been joined by two more mechs._**

 ** _"Prowl and Ironhide, can you organise obtaining a basic adult body? We know the big bodies are hard to come by, but try to get something over six foot?" Ratchet asked._**

 ** _"I'll contact Wheeljack, if anybody knows where we might find a body, he will, and Sideswipe will likely know who will take a bribe, and who not to trust," Ironhide said._**

 ** _"Tell them to call us when they have it organised, and we'll meet back here," Optimus said. He stood and reached out for the observer, who was soon cradled against Optimus' chest by one arm. Prowl went ahead and opened the door, peered out, told them it was clear, and they moved out._**

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

"The next memory is somewhat disjointed, as there were parts I was not online for," Bumblebee told his audience. He turned to look at Thundercracker, and nodded to him. "You, however, should recognise the event, albeit from a different perspective." He nodded, and then began the next memory.

ooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOoo

 ** _"Okay, I'm going to reset you, and then take your processors offline before transferring your Spark, the processors, and your memory chips into the new body, which I hope meets with your approval", Ratchet said, indicating to one side with a hand. The viewpoint of the observer shifted in the direction of the medic's gesture to where a yellow and black body lay on its back, carefully placed in an area the medic could work over it uninterrupted. The viewpoint moved up and down as the observer nodded, and then Ratchet leaned forwards, reaching out his hands towards the observer, picking him up. As the view faded, the last visible image showed the observer was drooping sideways, before things faded to black._**

 ** _Then an image came clearly into view. It was a ceiling, and then the face of Ratchet moved into the image._**

 ** _"How do you feel? Let me help you sit up."_**

 ** _The view changed as the observer sat up. A pair of silver and yellow hands moved into view as he raised them, attached to yellow arms with black flashes and silver joints, turning them over and looking at them. He got to his feet, the view moving crazily as the observer found his balance._**

 ** _"Let me help you learn to move, we may have to move quickly if under attack or in pursuit," Ratchet explained. The view faded to black again, then lightened, as Bumblebee explained "There was a lot of movement practice."_**

 ** _Then another image showed them discussing moving on, and suddenly they were sat down again._**

 ** _"I'm going to dismantle your old body, little one, in case spares become more scarce. I can make the missing pieces to replace what you've transferred over, and it can be an emergency temporary body in case someone else's body is injured so badly it becomes unable to sustain their Spark._**

 ** _"We can't continue calling you 'little one', either," Prowl said. "You're not much smaller than me, now, so, what should we call you?"_**

 ** _"I've been thinking about that since I got this body," the observer said. He looked at his yellow and silver arms with the black flashes again._**

 ** _"Bumblebee, please, I want you to call me Bumblebee."_**

 ** _Optimus looked about to say something, but he was distracted by the sound of a concussive blast, as the building shook and dirt and grit showered down from the ceiling._**

 ** _"We're under attack! Decepticons!" Ironhide said, coming into the main room. "Several Seekers, I think we are going to need to leave!" He moved over to Ratchet, who was disassembling Bumblebee's old sparkling body and putting the pieces in his subspace for storage. He grabbed the medic by his shoulder, pulling on his body "Leave the rest, we have to move, what's the point of risking the little one in his new body for the sake of the parts of his old one?"_**

 ** _Ratchet saw the sense of this, and rose._**

 ** _"Optimus, keep the litt - keep Bumblebee with you, he's mostly used to moving around in the new body, but the changed centre of gravity may still unbalance him, especially while running," Ratchet said. "Stay close so you can keep him from falling, and keep him as safe as possible, not so easy now he's bigger, I know." Optimus moved over, reaching his arms out to pull Bumblebee to his feet._**

 ** _"I recommend we return fire at first to give us a little time, and then we run, we need to get to safety, and Bumblebee will need recharge time before he is able to use that new body fully," Ratchet said. "Optimus, if we all go out first, we can cover you while you get started with Bumblebee, with the rest of us firing they shouldn't notice you and Bumblebee are not, and hopefully not realise that Bumblebee, until he's recharged that body fully, cannot."_**

 ** _Optimus nodded, and turned towards the rest of his mechs._**

 ** _"Ironhide, Wheeljack, you go out first and fire at the Seekers, Prowl and Ratchet, you go next a bit further out and return fire also. I will exit with Bumblebee, Sideswipe can cover me, and then we all run, firing as need be to keep the Seekers at bay." Optimus looked to Prowl, and the tactician nodded: the plan was sound._**

 ** _Ironhide and Wheeljack also nodded, and moved to either side of the doors, and when Prowl nodded, moved out, and began shooting into the sky. Ratchet and Prowl went out after and also began shooting, and, hoping most of the Seekers were occupied with the four attacking 'bots, moved out with Bumblebee, with Sideswipe right on his tail. Sideswipe let out a battle cry and shot at the Seekers, making sure the Seekers not shooting at the other four focused on him instead of Optimus and Bumblebee._**

 ** _As the two ran, Bumblebee saw, from the edge of one optic, Optimus move his arm about to shield him, in case some of the Seekers got a lucky shot in, then the rest of the Autobots ran to surround them, sheltering him further, as they ran to a safer location._**

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As the image faded from view, Bumblebee looked up at the assembled Decepticons. He saw full comprehension dawning in their optics, and he ran his gaze over them all before settling it on Thundercracker. He was pleased to see that the Seeker was no longer angry, but was instead looking at Bumblebee as if through new optics.

"What you discovered in that warehouse was the remains of a sparkling body that was no longer needed, my old sparkling body, abandoned due to your attack. My own Spark, the processors and memory chips from the smaller and less complex sparkling body had been transferred to the one I currently inhabit, for nobody wanted my personality to change, or for me to lose memories. Ratchet sometimes says that the sparkling processors still make me a little childish at times, but I'm never sure if that's his idea of a joke, whether he says it if he finds me annoying, or if he's serious," the yellow scout said.

His optics sought out Sam, who had gained enough balance to take a couple of steps forward during the display of the memories, one hand holding Barricade's arm for balance.

"Surely, Sam, you don't think Optimus, or Ratchet, would countenance the destruction of a young life, even to save another? Ratchet's first instinct would be to seek to save both lives in that situation, and he would have Optimus' blessing," Bumblebee stated.

"In the past, even without my blessing, Ratchet would, and has, tried to save as many lives as possible," Optimus said. "Ratchet places no one life higher than any other, no matter the age, gender, or faction, and has more than once placed his own Spark in peril to save another's."

Sam moved suddenly, stepping towards Bumblebee, the weight of her newly-installed shoulder cannons destabilising her, and Bumblebee and Barricade both moved towards and reached out to stabilise her. Between them they kept her upright as she threw her arms around Bumblebee and gave him a tight hug.

Bumblebee was surprised to feel another join in as Thundercracker stepped forward to embrace him as well. He warbled in surprise.

"Forgive me, to find out a little one I thought had perished is actually alive and well is a little overwhelming, but I am very happy that it is so," Thundercracker said, as he ran one hand over Bumblebee's smooth helm in a gesture of affection. He hugged a little tighter as he leaned closer to Bumblebee's audio, before saying, almost too low to be heard, "Anyway, I'm a Seeker, and have many sensors in my hide for flight purposes. A strange side-effect of this is that I love hugs, and I won't turn this opportunity down."

Bumblebee couldn't help but chuckle at this, and as he and Sam and Thundercracker embraced, all three participants relaxed.

"Excuse me for interrupting you," came the voice of Starscream, "but I believe we still have a few things left to discuss."

All those assembled turned to face the Red white and blue Seeker, who was stood, his body language still tense and wary.


End file.
